Pride-Niklaus's Point of View
♕︎ ♕︎ ♕︎
"This year is going to be troublesome," Kai beamed, his voice bubbling with a strange, almost mischievous excitement, as we moved through the bustling hallways after the 5th-period bell rang. The crowd of students scattered in every direction, heading for the cafeteria or whatever they considered an escape from the monotony of the day. But Kai didn't seem to mind that part. No, he looked almost thrilled by the idea of trouble, as if it were some kind of welcome challenge. "How exciting!" he added, his grin widening, like he couldn't wait for the inevitable chaos to unfold.
I couldn't quite figure out whether he was insane or just... optimistic in a way that made the rest of us feel like we were missing something.
My sister, as usual, wasn't particularly phased by any of it. She crossed her arms and linked them with Nora's, walking beside them with that cool, almost disinterested air she always wore. It was one of those things you couldn't ever shake about her—this calm, detached aura that made you wonder if she ever actually cared about anything beyond her own little bubble.
Her eyes flicked to Kai, who was still grinning like a madman, and she let out a soft sigh before speaking. "Bathory-Moreno boy ain't that bad," she muttered, her tone dismissive but not entirely unfriendly. It was clear she wasn't all that worried about whatever trouble Kai had so gleefully anticipated.
"Hah, we're all good compared to Nik," Nora chimed in, her eyes mischievous as she glanced over at me, her smirk more than a little wicked. I knew exactly where this was going, but that didn't stop her. "He's undoubtedly the one in trouble. Paired with the girl who's literally tried to kill him fifty times already."
I raised an eyebrow at her, not fazed in the slightest by the claim. "Seventy-seven," I corrected smoothly, my voice steady as I fixed her with a look that was both unimpressed and amused.
Nathan, who had been sipping from his bottle of water, didn't even see it coming. He sputtered, his eyes widening as water shot out of his nose. The sight was both comical and slightly alarming, a mixture of disbelief and genuine shock. He choked, coughing between breaths, as his face turned a shade of crimson. "To think you're counting," he gasped, still recovering from the initial shock, his voice barely audible as he struggled to regain composure.
I didn't blink. My expression remained neutral, almost too calm, as though what I had just said was perfectly normal.
"I did try to kill her seventy-seven times," I said, my tone carrying an almost detached, clinical undertone, like I was stating something as mundane as the weather. "But it's not really a murder attempt if you know you can't actually kill the person you're trying to harm, is it?" I smirked, the sharpness in my expression only accentuated by the dry humor I laced into my words. "We're even. If she tries again, I'll just get back at her. Why would I be bothered? She's my equal in power, and if she's going to be aggressive, I'll just match her wickedness and stab her—pretty, pretty body—right back." The smirk lingered, as I gave everyone a moment to absorb the odd, unsettling calmness in my delivery.
The silence that followed was almost palpable. No one said anything for a moment, and I relished in the discomfort.
Finally, it was Dom, ever the one to break the tension with a sarcastic remark. "Are you sure the psychopathy isn't in their blood?" he scoffed, glancing at my sister with a mix of distaste and curiosity. His tone was pointed, though not entirely without a hint of amusement. "Did Atlas ever show any tendencies of wanting to stab you or murder you like his sister? Quite the great question," he added, almost as an afterthought, but his words were laced with a sort of dark humor.
"Nope," my sister replied easily, uncrossing her arms and giving him a level, almost bored look. There was no hesitation in her voice as she responded, as if she had already considered this particular line of questioning countless times before. "He's chill. Weirdly chill." She shrugged slightly, her eyes narrowing slightly as she continued. "He acted as if our parents didn't have the history they do. So, I think they weren't joking when they said this conflict was even in their eyes. They don't agree with Persephone." She clicked her tongue in disapproval, her expression tight as she frowned, clearly not a fan of how things had unfolded in the past. "Tsk, he was even surprisingly respectful."
Micah, who had been standing a little farther back, clearly listening to the conversation with more interest than I had expected, nodded thoughtfully.
He seemed lost in his own thoughts for a moment before he spoke. "Yes, I'm sitting behind them, and I heard the way he talks to her. It doesn't even look like he's Persephone's triplet brother. I guess there must be quite the striking difference between the oldest and the youngest of the three," he mused aloud. He paused for a second, clearly mulling over something that left him sounding almost... haunted. "He was pretty much a gentleman with Dove," he added softly, almost reverently.
There was something in his tone that suggested he'd witnessed a side of Atlas that not many people had.
"I'm not surprised," Nora purred, her voice smooth, almost smug, as she leaned in slightly to add her own thoughts to the conversation. "I've been paired with Atlas three times in the last four years, and he was really cool. Funny and charming even. He never mistreated or mocked me for being a shifter, or for being part of our group, or even for being the opposite of friends with his sister." She paused for a moment, and when she spoke again, there was a slight shift in her tone. "Actually," she chuckled nervously, her cheeks coloring slightly, "I even had a crush on him at the time."
My sister burst into laughter at that, a loud and almost theatrical giggle. "Oh my Gods, I remember that," she said between chuckles. "It was so weird. Atlas was dating Makayla Lowe back then, the vamp under Persephone who is now paired with Nathan."
Nora waved her hand dismissively, clearly embarrassed by the revelation. "Don't even remember me," she muttered, her voice laced with self-deprecating humor. "I've never been so jealous of a vampire in my life. It was such a shame. The crush is long gone, but he was just so friendly, so happy, with that golden retriever energy that... ugh. I totally get why he has so many people on campus falling all over him."
"Is he dating anyone?" Nathan asked, his curiosity piqued as he tilted his head and looked around at the group.
"No," Kai was the first to answer, cutting off any potential follow-up questions with his usual sense of finality. "Just a fling with Yoon Shin-hye."
"No one calls the leopard shifter that, idiot," Micah shot back with a playful grin, clearly amused. "She goes by Jessamine. Top 3 girl in Atlantis, one of Sirena's best friends." He paused, then seemed to catch himself, noticing the looks everyone was giving him. His eyes widened as he quickly backpedaled. "Stop. I don't have a crush on her anymore, alright?" he said, his voice defensive. "We only dated for two months and it was three years ago."
Of course, we all knew that. But we also knew the unspoken truth—Kai was currently head over heels for Graziella Ebony Aramina, the dark witch who was ranked in the top 2 in Valhalla, and who just so happened to be one of Freya's best friends. But that, of course, made it all too easy for us to mess with him, so we did. It had become a bit of a tradition at this point, something we could all count on for a good laugh at his expense.